{"id":400826,"date":"2023-10-06T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=400826"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"FBI-Honolulu-Guam-warns-of-new-financial-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/FBI-Honolulu-Guam-warns-of-new-financial-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Honolulu-Guam warns of new financial scam"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMUNING, Guam\u2014<\/strong>FBI Honolulu-Guam Resident Agency is warning the public of a new scam dubbed \u201cThe Phantom Hacker.\u201d Scammers are impersonating technology, banking, and government officials in a complex ruse to convince a typically older victim that foreign hackers have infiltrated their financial account. The scammers then instruct the victim to immediately move their money to an alleged U.S. government account to \u201cprotect\u201d their assets. In reality, there was never any foreign hacker, and the money is now fully controlled by the scammers. Some victims are losing their entire life savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese scammers are cold and calculated. They are targeting older members of our community who are particularly mindful of potential risks to their financial nest eggs. The criminals are using the victims\u2019 own attentiveness against them,\u201d said special agent in charge Steven Merrill. \u201cBy educating the public about this alarming new scam, we hope to get ahead of these scammers and prevent any further victimization.\u201d<\/p>\n

How it works<\/p>\n

The FBI has observed repeated behavior by criminals involved in \u201cThe Phantom Hacker\u201d scam. The ruse is often perpetrated in three major steps:<\/p>\n

Step 1-tech support impostor<\/p>\n

In the first step, a scammer posing as customer support representative from a legitimate technology company initiates contact with the victim through a phone call, text, email, or a pop-up window on their computer and instructs the victim to call a number for \u201cassistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the victim calls the phone number, a scammer directs the victim to download a software program allowing the scammer remote access to the victim\u2019s computer. The scammer pretends to run a virus scan on the victim\u2019s computer and falsely claims the victim\u2019s computer either has been or is at risk of being hacked.<\/p>\n

Next, the scammer requests the victim to open their financial accounts to determine whether there have been any unauthorized charges\u2014a tactic to allow the scammer to determine which financial account is most lucrative for targeting. The scammer informs the victim they will receive a call from that financial institution\u2019s fraud department with further instructions.<\/p>\n

Step 2-financial institution impostor<\/p>\n

In the second step, a scammer, posing as a representative of the financial institution mentioned above, such as a bank or a brokerage firm, contacts the victim. The scammer falsely informs the victim their computer and financial accounts have been accessed by a foreign hacker and the victim must move their money to a \u201csafe\u201d third-party account, such as an account with the Federal Reserve or another U.S. government agency.<\/p>\n

The victim is directed to transfer money via a wire transfer, cash, or wire conversion to cryptocurrency, often directly to overseas recipients. The victim is also told not to inform anyone of the real reason they are moving their money. The scammer may instruct the victim to send multiple transactions over a span of days or months.<\/p>\n

Step 3-US government impostor<\/p>\n

In the third step, the victim may be contacted by a scammer posing as the Federal Reserve or another U.S. government agency. If the victim becomes suspicious, the scammer may send an email or a letter on what appears to be official U.S. Government letterhead to legitimize the scam. The scammer will continue to emphasize the victim\u2019s funds are \u201cunsafe\u201d and they must be moved to a new \u201calias\u201d account for protection until the victim concedes.<\/p>\n

Victims often suffer the loss of entire banking, savings, retirement, and investment accounts under the guise of \u201cprotecting\u201d their assets.<\/p>\n

Tips to protect yourself<\/p>\n

The FBI recommends that the public take the following steps to protect themselves from \u201cThe Phantom Hacker\u201d scam:<\/p>\n

Do not click on unsolicited pop-ups, links sent via text messages, or email links or attachments.<\/p>\n

Do not contact the telephone number provided in a pop-up, text, or email.<\/p>\n

Do not download software at the request of an unknown individual who contacted you.<\/p>\n

Do not allow an unknown individual who contacted you to have control of your computer.<\/p>\n

The US Government will never request you send money to them via wire transfer, cryptocurrency, or gift\/prepaid cards.<\/p>\n

Reporting suspected fraud<\/p>\n

The FBI requests victims report these fraudulent or suspicious activities to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov. Be sure to include as much information as possible, such as:<\/p>\n

The name of the person or company that contacted you.<\/p>\n

Methods of communication used, to include websites, emails, and telephone numbers.<\/p>\n

The bank account number where the funds were wired to and the recipient\u2019s name(s).<\/p>\n

The FBI Honolulu office can be reached at (808) 566-4300 or https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/contact-us\/field-offices\/honolulu<\/a>. (PR)<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n


FBI<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TAMUNING, Guam\u2014FBI Honolulu-Guam Resident Agency is warning the public of a new scam dubbed \u201cThe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}